Tom Beckers
banner
tombeckers.bsky.social
Tom Beckers
@tombeckers.bsky.social
Psychological scientist at KU Leuven, basketball and soccer dad, ceramics husband, ocean fan (frank not billy)
Reposted by Tom Beckers
Belgium’s King Philippe said Europe “must show stronger leadership” on the crisis in Gaza, adding that “the current situation has gone on far too long” and “is a disgrace to humanity.”
Gaza killings denounced as ‘disgrace to humanity’ by Belgian king
The EU’s top brass has not publicly responded to the reported deaths of over 100 aid seekers in Gaza over the weekend.
www.politico.eu
July 21, 2025 at 2:54 AM
@klm.bsky.social officially has worst customer service in the world of aviation. Which is a high bar! Booked flights to attend a funeral, received confirmation but never the actual tickets, when I call eventually turns out they cancelled them without ever telling us. They literally don’t know what
July 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
June 15, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
Since the end of the ceasefire on 18 March, 1,309 children have reportedly been killed and 3,738 injured.

In total, more than 50,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured since October 2023.

The children of Gaza need protection NOW: unicef.link/3ZCg0wJ
May 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
April 23, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Yet another casualty of the thoughts and prayers of a US politician. At least this one didn’t die by gunfire.
April 22, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Fresh work from the lab spearheaded by @albalm.bsky.social for all you lovers of avoidance, fear generalization and extinction!
🚨Paper alert!!🚨

Excited to share out latest research where we investigated avoidance, fear generalization and extinction learning using a modified platform-mediated avoidance procedure in male and female rats.

rdcu.be/eesmc
Generalization and extinction of platform-mediated avoidance in male and female rats
Scientific Reports - Generalization and extinction of platform-mediated avoidance in male and female rats
rdcu.be
March 27, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
🚨Paper alert!!🚨

Excited to share out latest research where we investigated avoidance, fear generalization and extinction learning using a modified platform-mediated avoidance procedure in male and female rats.

rdcu.be/eesmc
Generalization and extinction of platform-mediated avoidance in male and female rats
Scientific Reports - Generalization and extinction of platform-mediated avoidance in male and female rats
rdcu.be
March 27, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
Join us for the KU Leuven Open Science Day on 6 May 2025!

The KU Leuven Open Science Day is an event for and by researchers. Don't miss this chance to deepen insights, share experiences and engage with fellow researchers! #OpenScience #Research #KULeuven

More info: www.kuleuven.be/open-science...
March 13, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Data as cause for hope and call to action, an anti-dote to alternative facts and post-truths. Inspiring lecture tonight by @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social’s newest doctor honoris causa, @maxroser.bsky.social
February 4, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Ethnography at boys’ soccer practice confirms that this applies to the human primate as well.
January 22, 2025 at 12:07 PM
She sure did! Stellar dissertation and defense, thanks also to the insightful opposition by @gurcelay.bsky.social , Marloes Henckens and Rudi D’Hooge 🙏
She did it! 🥳 (Of course she did!).

Very proud of you, @albalm.bsky.social, PhD!

Again a pleasure to supervise such an excellent young researcher together with @tombeckers.bsky.social ☺️.
January 22, 2025 at 10:58 AM
A compelling takedown of one of the most harmful pop psychology books out there.
December 20, 2024 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
December 18, 2024 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
I am so thankful that I came up in an academic environment that valued openness r/t secrecy. I have never worried about discussing my ideas with others, and those discussions have paid off greatly. I feel bad for trainees who learn to be secretive with their ideas - they are missing out on so much!
November 20, 2024 at 3:38 PM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
100% recommend - you couldn’t wish for a better supervisor!
I am thrilled to announce that my lab will have an open 👩‍🎓👨‍🎓PhD-position on observational learning 👀, interception 🫁 and neuropharmacology 💊🧠.
If you interested, please contact me for more information.
Preferably starting this year.
May 31, 2024 at 9:38 AM
Fancy doing a PhD at the crossroads of memory research, clinical psychology and metascience? And travelling the globe while doing so? Come work with @wolfvanpaemel.bsky.social @simine.com @tomhardwicke.bsky.social and me at KU Leuven and UniMelb and get a joint PhD degree! [please distribute] 1/2
Reconsolidation-based therapies: Science & fiction (joint PhD Leuven/Melbourne)
Do a PhD in Leuven and Melbourne on a topic at the intersection of the science of memory, clinical psychology and meta-science
www.kuleuven.be
May 29, 2024 at 8:07 AM
Temporary free-access link to the publisher’s version: authors.elsevier.com/a/1j3vW_KBfw.... Although, frankly, some of the figures and tables look better in the preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps....
May 13, 2024 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
Mechanisms linking social media use to adolescent mental health vulnerability

New Review by Amy Orben, Adrian Meier, Tim Dalgleish &
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore 

FREE to access until May 21 -- download now! go.nature.com/4dwD71i

#psychology #psychschsky
May 7, 2024 at 2:30 PM
New paper alert: across a series of studies in humans and rats, we find that (unlike for benzodiazepines) pre-extinction propranolol administration doesn’t impair extinction retention. Which suggests it may be fine to take beta-blockers during exposure treatment www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
No harmful effect of propranolol administered prior to fear memory extinction in rats and humans
Exposure therapy is an evidence-based treatment option for anxiety-related disorders. Many patients also take medication that could, in principle, aff…
www.sciencedirect.com
May 10, 2024 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
The future of Perspectives on Psychological Science (the journal) is wide open!
Want to be the next Editor in Chief? Have ideas about new directions for the journal? Submit a proposal (2pp) by June 1.
Come join the team of APS journals' Editors in Chief!

www.psychologicalscience.org/publications...
<em>Perspectives on Psychological Science</em> Call for Editorial Proposals
When Perspectives on Psychological Science was founded in 2006, the goal of the journal was to “publish an eclectic mix of articles that are enjoyable to read and thought-provoking, and at the same ti...
www.psychologicalscience.org
April 30, 2024 at 11:05 PM
Final prepping - almost ready for #EMHFC2024
May 2, 2024 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
Finally published: New work on human freezing responses by the fabulous Alma Merscher. More details 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Can I see it in the eyes? An investigation of freezing‐like motion patterns in response to avoidable threat
Our article unravels the relationship between body and eye movements in human threat anticipation, drawing parallels with freezing behavior in rodents. We reveal a physio-behavioral defensive state, ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 24, 2024 at 8:10 AM
Reposted by Tom Beckers
PCI may well be the future if we all support it now. It's one of the better initiatives I've seen! Please go check it out.
Interested in becoming a PCI Psychology recommender? I'm happy to share the 1st update about PCIP, which includes a form to express your interest in being a reviewer, a recommender, or a member of the future managing board! Read more about it here: groups.google.com/g/pci-psycho... #PsychSciSky
March 25, 2024 at 11:01 PM